Walking Dead: Beginning In A New World
by RemedyRay
Summary: -ON HOLD- Tessa Grant is a blunt, angry, slightly disturbed girl who can handle a blade better than you'd think. This is her story of her travels from her home to her family, and the things that happen and people she meets along the way. In the storyline, just a different part in it. **Rated M for violence/goryness, because I couldn't decide between M or T.
1. Chapter 1

**Yay for writing two stories at once! :D This story will have Walking Dead characters in it, she will meet up with them, blah blah blah. Don't worry, you get to see all your favorites at one point or another.(: I hope you like it. It's a little different from my usual style. **

The blade pierced the skin easily as I jumped out of the way, avoiding it's mouth. The moans of more were behind me and closing in.  
I grabbed my backpack from off the ground and took off, pulling the pistol from my belt. This was no time to miss a beat. So with my machete in one hand and my pistol in the other I made my way up the stairs and too the roof of the apartment building. I slammed the door closed behind me but took no time to barricade it, I was going to get off this building.  
My eyes glanced around the edges of the rooftop before finding the fire escape. Taking one glance down made me quickly rule that out, too many were still in the alley way. So I decided on a stupid, instinctive move. I was choosing which way to run when the door broke behind me.  
It was now or never.  
I ran as quickly as I could to the edge of the building, threw my gun and machete over to the other rooftop, and jumped.  
The rooftops weren't too far apart. Plus, with this building being so much taller than the one next to it, I felt like I had a shot at making it. My hand reached for the edge as I fell, grabbing it at the last second.  
"Well, that was close.."  
With the strength I had gained from the adrenaline I pulled myself up easily, grabbing my weapons and turning around. Some seemed to comprehend that there was no way over here, but there were a few that just continued to walk right off the edge. A quick laugh escaped me before I searched for another fire escape. This time there were only a few waiting for me at the bottom, nothing my machete couldn't handle. And with a few more slices to the neck or to the waist, I was running out of the city. So much for it being a 'nice, quiet town'.  
Being alone didn't bother me too much. I've been making my way east from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border to Maryland, where I hoped to find the few people I was determined to save if I could. We had talked when it first started to happen, stayed in constant contact while we planned out what we could do. We agreed to stay as close to interstate 70 as we could and try to find each other in the middle. It was easier to stay on a highway than people would think. With most of them clearing off into cities to feast, it left the highways open for people who dared walk them.  
I've had my share of run ins with other groups of survivors, some asking me to join them, some trying to loot me. Then there were the pigs that banned together, trying to get their hands on any girl they could find.  
It was fun shooting them in the knee.  
If it wasn't obvious, I'm not much of a people person. They don't mix well with my personality. That's why there were only a few I was going to go after, those were the only few that mattered in my mind.  
I was looking at my map and laying in the back seat of a car when I heard them. They weren't moans that I heard though, they were voices. I peaked out the back window to see a small group of survivors. They didn't seem bad, I didn't even see many holding weapons. I decided they'd be okay to talk to, ask if they'd seen any other people on their walk here.  
I opened the car door slowly, holding my hands up. I didn't want to scare them away. Or get shot. I wasn't sure if these people knew how to use a gun properly.  
"I'm not infected," My voice was loud, blunt, and a bit sarcastic. I couldn't help it. I'd learned people would question if you were turning or not even if they could see you were perfectly healthy. Those people annoyed me.  
They seemed startled to see a girl, all alone, climbing out of a car with her clothes covered in dry blood. I hadn't found anywhere to clean myself off yet and I didn't want to waste what was left of my water to bath. It wasn't that important.  
I took a clearer look at the group. There was an old woman, three men, a teenage boy and little girl, and two women. The men and boy were holding guns at me, only one seemed to know what he was doing though.  
"Oh, put those weapons down," One of the women smacked one of the men in the back of the head. I guessed that they were married.  
"Orlean, I know what I'm doing," he turned to look at her, but she only gave him a glare. Then she proceeded to walk over to me.  
"It's just a little girl, you can't shoot her. Where are your parents? Are you alone?" As she came closer, I backed away from the car. I didn't want her to think I as going to grab my weapons.  
"I'm alone, yes. And I'm 19, I'm not really a little girl anymore."  
She cleared the space between us and took my face in her hands, brushing my hair away and rubbing some dirt off of it.  
I didn't know how to react to such behavior. Not one person had acted like this with me. I didn't really like it, but she was trying to help, so I had to hold my tongue.  
"How'd you make it so far? You have nothing," She took a step back and took my appearance in once again.  
"My stuff's in the car," I nodded to the open door to the backseat where my gun and machete lay, my bag in the floor and the map on top of it."  
"You've been using those?" I guess I could understand her amazement. Some people were.. Naïve. That's the only word I could think of to describe it. Just because I'm a girl, all alone, doesn't mean I wasn't raised to know how to hold a weapon.  
"Yes. I'm quite comfortable holding a gun or a machete. I've trained with a few different types of weapons."  
She gave me a look of astonishment before continuing.  
"So, which way are you headed? We wouldn't mind you tagging along for a while."  
I walked over to the car, feeling it was safe now to get my things, before walking over to her again.  
"I'm heading east. You seem to be heading west. So I don't really think me tagging along with your group would get me anywhere. Thanks though."  
I was beginning to wipe my machete clean with a towel I had when the rest of the group slowly made their way over.  
"Is there anything we can do to help you then?" The old woman spoke up this time.  
"I would like to ask a question. Have you seen anyone also heading this way while on your walk here?"  
I didn't sound hopeful. I had stopped sounding hopeful after the fourth group I'd asked.  
"No, sorry honny."  
I sighed, rubbing right above my brow. It was a habit I had, like how some people rubbed the bridge of their nose. I couldn't though, as there was a piercing there.  
"Thanks anyways. I should be heading off, as should you. Avoid the town ahead, try your hardest to loop around it. You wouldn't survive with an elderly woman and a little girl."  
I began to walk away when the woman yelled a thank you. I held my hand up as to say 'you're welcome' and continued east.  
I hadn't covered nearly enough ground today and it was midday already. I needed to find a place to sleep and some form of water.  
It was late spring, so it wasn't too hot out but there was some heat. That caused me to sweat after being out in the sun for so long, which caused me to lose water. I didn't like that.  
I shifted my bag on my back and began to reload my pistol. I tried to get prepared as I walked, making sure I could be ready if I was surprised. There wasn't much to do though, on a trip so long. It'd been nearly a month now since I began walking. And nearly a month since I lost contact with everyone.  
It wasn't like I wasn't used to it anyways. I was a rather distant person. The only people that I cared about lived all the way in Maryland. My mom, little sister, best friend and his parents. My best friend Tyler's father was a military man, and Tyler was beginning to follow in his footsteps when this had happened. I trusted them to keep my family safe.  
A sigh escaped my lips before I pulled out my map again.  
Today was going to be a long one.


	2. Chapter 2

I'd cleared much more road within the week I'd walked, but going up and down mountain hills and swerving with the highway made it take longer to reach my destination. I could be an impatient person sometimes, but only in extreme situations. Right now, I was only bothered by the fact that I was beginning to become surrounded by forest. I wouldn't find any food or water for a long while if the cities continued to be so spaced apart. I hadn't run into any more people though, which could be both a good thing and a bad.  
I wanted so badly to look up and see my friends and family running up to me. I knew it wouldn't happen like that, but I still could use that as inspiration to keep going.  
I'd stumbled upon another little town later that day, but didn't know if I should dare going down into it or not. It seemed to be pretty cleared out but that could just mean they were in buildings or waiting around the edge of the city in the forest. They'd have the field advantage since I couldn't see as easily in forest as they could.  
With a breath, my feet began to go down the exit ramp. I was only going to skim the area close to the ramp, and take off back up it again. My pistol would stay in the holder on my belt. No noise would be made - hopefully.  
There wasn't much time for second guessing what I did. I moved swiftly through the side roads and checked only a few shops. I had avoided every encounter with any of the undead, making sure to quietly move passed them if I were to see one. I was lucky enough to find some goldfish and another two bottles of water. I also grabbed another towel since I found it. Now I'd have one for myself and one for my machete.  
I'd wasted a good three hours going down into the town and getting out of it, but I felt like it was worth it. I made myself only eat a handful of the goldfish, and slowly. I needed to save it. I had a little more food in my bag, but I wanted to save all I could. I had mentally agreed to let myself drink a fourth of a water bottle while the sun was still up, then only take sips again when night came. I also made plans to change into my other shorts.  
I had one jacket/sweatshirt, two thin strapped shirts, two t-shirts, two pairs of shorts, and a pair of skinny jeans. Though I'd grabbed two pairs of shoes, I only wore the ones I had on now. I wanted to go through one pair before using the other. If it wasn't obvious, the backpack was a school bag, and was completely filled. I kept my shoes tied to the strap of the backpack, and they rested on top of it and against my back. I was careful to always have my machete in hand, though I had a sheath for it.  
By night I had found a camper to sleep on top of. I usually tried my hardest to sleep on the roof of one when I could find them. They were almost as common as a mini van, but it was hard to find one that I could climb on top of. They were the safest places to sleep in my opinion because I could cover myself with my tarp and be completely hidden from anything wanting to get to me. Plus, the undead couldn't climb.  
I was only ever able to sleep for a few hours a night. I'd set my alarm on my watch before I'd sleep so I'd only get around 6 hours. With the world the way it was now, that was more than enough.  
So with my machete in hand and my legs curled around my bag, I pulled the tarp over my head and tried my hardest to find some form of rest.

.

My alarm went off at 5 and I was quick to wake and turn it off. I'd become a very light sleeper over the past few months.  
My routine in the morning was more of a ritual. It was the same every morning, I'd wake, turn my alarm off, and not move for a good ten minutes before checking to see if it was clear. Then I'd quickly pack my things and change clothes if I wanted to. Afterwards, I'd eat a bit of food and drink a bit of water before getting on my way.  
My routine usually took between an hour and an hour and a half. I didn't mind it though, because then the sun would start to come up when I left. I didn't like walking in the dark. I never felt safe. I was smart enough to know to not use a flashlight, but it wasted so much time at night. I knew I needed the time to relax and rest my body so I didn't overwork myself, but I was a fast paced person. Waiting around wasn't really my thing.  
My morning was uneventful. I walked the highway more, marked things on my map as I passed them - such as if a city looked safe or if I should avoid it next time I come around - and found a new box of ammo for my pistol. It wasn't much, but every little bit counted. It could mean saving my life at one point.  
I hadn't seen anyone, human or undead, until around 3 in the afternoon. A scream of panic came from my left and I was quick to hold my machete with both hands, becoming alert. I didn't see anyone, or anything for that matter. But the scream came again, followed by a few moans and a lot of rustling leaves. And lucky me, whoever was running was coming in my direction.  
I wasn't going to be stupid and stand in the open to wait to see the situation, so I hid behind a car tire and leaned around the front of the vehicle to watch. Out of the forest came a boy that looked around my age and five undead.  
Another strand of cursing came from him loudly and I knew I was screwed if I didn't do something. So after taking a breath, I ran out and grabbed him by the back of his collar and started dragging him off. He jumped and began to panic but was easy to drag along anyways.  
"If you want to live you better start picking your feet up, stupid!"  
I motioned for him to run ahead and knelt behind the front of another car, waiting for the fastest of them to reach me. I saw the boy turn around and watch me as I swung my machete at it's thighs, it falling to the ground in enough time for a loud clang to echo from my machete hitting concrete.  
You couldn't kill an undead without bashing it's skull in, but it would be a hopeless head that couldn't do anything but whine if you cut it off. It was easier to do and took less time.  
I evaluated the other four coming after us before running, grabbing the boy by the elbow and leading him forward again.  
"There's a semi up here. I want you to climb in and take my bag with you. Don't come out, and don't try to be a hero, got it?"  
I took my backpack off my back and handed it to him, shoving him forward. I stood so I could watch him get into the semi safely but keep an eye on the undead heading my way.  
This was something I found fun if I wasn't going to be screwed trying to do it. The few that have seen me in action thought I was literally crazy because I didn't mind this. The rush was exciting.  
I pulled the plastic face mask up from around my neck to cover my nose and mouth and swung my machete around in my hand before taking off towards the group. I jumped up onto a car and ran across the roofs, jumping down in front of the three that were ahead. The machete found the thighs of two of them before I jumped onto the car across from the path I was on, sliding across the top of it feet first and holding my weapon to the right of me, slicing through half of the neck of the third.  
"Stupid bone doesn't wanna break? Seriously?" I growled, jumping over to the car on the path I was originally on and running at the straggler, putting my machete through it's mouth and into the back of it's throat.  
A grin formed under my mask as I pulled my left foot behind it's knee and took it out, making him fall into the blade so I had to hold him up. When I saw the zombie with it's head half off come at me, I spun to put the one on my blade in front of me as a human shield. As it cleared the space between us, I kicked the one on my blade in the stomach, causing it to collide into the other. They stumbled, confused. I took this time to jump to the roof of the car nearby and finish the job on the half injured one. The only one still walking decided to take a grab at my feet and I fell backwards, the sudden strength surprising me. My feet kicked him off and I leaned forward, putting my machete through the top of it's skull.  
"Serves you right for touching me," I pulled my blade out and jumped down, putting it into the skulls of the two crawling at me.  
I huffed, a bit out of breath from the fun I had, and began to walk back to the semi. The boy hesitated before opening the door for me to climb in.  
"Can you hand me the towel in there? Not the clean one, the dirty one," I pulled my mask back around my neck and took in a breath of fresh air.  
He moved with a hint of fear as he got me the towel.  
I was cleaning off my blade when he spoke for the first time.  
"Are you going to kill me too?" His voice had a type of innocence to it. That wasn't something I expected from him. Yeah, I found him screaming bloody murder at a couple of undead, but anyone would do that. And he was yelling profanities. So an innocent voice was a bit surprising.  
I grinned as I looked back down at my blade, finishing my work.  
"No, I'm not going to kill you," My voice held amusement. It didn't seem to offend him though.  
I wiped the blood off my mask and spread the towel across the dashboard to dry. Eventually, he talked again.  
"How did you learn to do that?"  
I looked to him for a long moment before standing to see what was in back of the semi. Luckily, there was a bunk bed free of any dead - or undead - people. A couple of empty beer cans and an empty dresser laid out in front of them.  
"My dad trained me when I was little. I continued to teach myself after he passed away, and obtained my own style from it. Granted, I didn't go around killing people, but I did slice a couple of wood training dummies as part of my self teaching."  
I turned back to the passenger seat and sat, taking my bag from him.  
He was eyeing my gun the entire time I dug through the bag so I stopped and sighed, "You aren't holding my pistol. And yes, it is loaded. I don't use it unless totally necessary though, so I won't waste any bullets on you."  
"I wasn't- Uhm, sorry."  
I glanced over to him to see he was looking down. This was one strange boy.  
I put my bag on the floor and turned to face him, holding out my hand.  
"I'm Tessa. Tessa Grant."  
He looked to my hand for a moment before shaking it.  
"Jacob Reed. People call me Jake though."  
"So, how old are you, Jake?"  
I went back to digging through my bag while he answered.  
"Eighteen. What about you?"  
"Nineteen. Where's your family?" I finally found my water bottle and granola bars.  
"Gone. I was with some people but.. We were surprised."  
"Oh, that must suck," I handed him one of the granola bars and began to eat mine.  
"Well, I didn't really know anyone. They were just nice enough to let me tag along with them. And thanks, I haven't eaten in a few days."  
I shrugged, "You can take a couple sips of water too, but try not to drink too much, got it?"  
I placed the water in one of the cup holders and leaned back, putting my feet on the dashboard.  
"So uhm, I would've been dead if you hadn't killed those people."  
I nodded, "They aren't people Jake, not anymore. But I know you would've. And if they didn't kill you and I was a bit more cruel, I would've killed you myself. Screaming is a sure way to get more to follow you, stupid."  
"Well… anyways, thanks."  
We ate the rest of our food in silence and he took a few sips of water. I could tell he had something he wanted to say, but wasn't. It rather annoyed me actually. This was a post-apocalyptic era now, being like this was a sure way to make you regret yourself when your time comes.  
"Will you let me tag along with you?"  
I looked over to him, contemplating for a long moment. I didn't want to leave the poor kid here. He could bring more undead my way if he decided to scream and run in my direction again, anyways. But I didn't like people that would hold me back.  
"I'll do anything you say. And if I don't you can leave me for dead. But if I need help and I've done everything you've told me to do, it'd be good if you'd save me again.."  
I bit my bottom lip before deciding.  
"Sure, I guess. But you will do everything I tell you to. You won't whine. You won't scream. And you'll need to carry your own pack, so we'll need to find you one. I won't leave you behind unless you've gotten yourself into the situation by not following my orders. Anything we find, we share - food, water, blankets, and so on. Can you fight with anything?"  
"Eh, not really," He seemed embarrassed for answering.  
"Of course you don't," I breathed, rubbing my brow again.


	3. Chapter 3

We sat silently again while I thought. He could learn to easily use certain weapons without hurting himself in the process, but it would still take time to practice. And that could cause noise.  
"We'll figure something out, okay? For now, let's just stay here. I would've liked to go on longer but.. You've gone through a lot today. The shock's still probably fresh, so you wouldn't be much good if we needed you to fight anyways."  
I locked the doors to the truck and climbed into the back, opening the windows a little so we could have some more air flow.  
"So Jake, where ya from?" I pulled my face mask off and put it on top of my bag, taking my shoes off to sit next to it in the process. I didn't usually take my shoes off, but it felt like we'd be staying here long enough to relax at least a little.  
"Baltimore, in Maryland," He seemed to become a bit more comfortable around me and was beginning to not hesitate when replying.  
"I'm actually headed to an area around there for my family," I laid back onto the bottom bed and sighed. It felt like a long time since I've had this pleasure.  
"Hopefully they got out when I did," His voice dropped again, sounding more depressed now.  
"Huh? Why?"  
"Haven't you heard? When the infection first started, our government tried to bomb the cities that were too far gone. All of our panic made other countries curious so they stuck their nose in our business long enough to find out we had a situation. So they took it upon themselves to start bombing all our major cities and ports to try to keep anyone from going over there or surviving to carry the plague. It was too late though. People from our country had gone over seas when they were first infected, and it spread over there too."  
I sat up, looking at him in disbelief.  
"No, I was talking to them a little over a month ago. Why wouldn't they have told me?"  
"Maybe they were already leaving, or had already left when it happened. Hey, if your family is anything like you, they'll be fine," He laughed a little. He was trying to lighten the mood, make it cheery again. I wasn't going to get mad at him for that, but I did think it was annoying. Only because my mind went to the thought of losing my mom, my little sister, my best friend. They were the only people I had. The only ones I trusted. I wasn't usually one to feel sad, but that thought was almost overwhelming.  
"They must've gotten out then," I finally concluded, "They were getting ready to leave when I talked to them last. I only had a few minutes for talking the time after that, and it was almost all static. That was when it started going downhill. But they were telling me how they loved me. They also said they'd meet me on interstate 70 though. So they must've been leaving."  
He shrugged, "Like I said, if your family is anything like you, they'll be fine."  
I sighed and leaned back done and let out a breath. I knew they were okay. They were already getting ready to leave the city. They made it out.  
"When do you normally sleep? We slept in shifts at our camp," He changed the subject easily, taking his shoes off and deciding to sit on the other side of the bed. With both of us being thin, he could easily fit in the distance left between my feet and the other side of the semi.  
"I go to bed around eleven, and wake up around five. Since you probably need more sleep though, it'd probably be best for me to nap now and for you to wake me up around nine or ten, depending on what time you want to sleep. I'll stay up the rest of the night and day tomorrow. We'll just go to sleep a little early tomorrow night."  
"You sure you can stay up that long? I'd be fine with night shift."  
I shook my head, "You need to earn that trust. I don't feel comfortable putting my life into the hands of a kid watching the streets at night that can't use a weapon."  
He didn't seem to take offense again. It kind of surprised me that he took my blunt insults and names so easily. I was questioning if I'd actually want to keep him around when I finally found sleep.

.

I woke easily as Jake shook me. It was dark out, and he was smart enough to not try to find any form of lighting for us.  
"It's ten thirty," He whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I figured I'd try to give you as much sleep as possible."  
"Okay," I yawned as I sat up and stretched. I quickly switched places with him and slipped my shoes on, "I'll wake you as late as possible then, in return. But be prepared to be rushed. Tomorrow is going to be a new experience for you. Trust me."  
I was back to not liking the idea of having a follower again. But I couldn't leave him. I wouldn't want anyone to leave my family. I had to try.  
I spent my time checking my ammo, cleaning my machete, and trying to think of a way of protection for Jake. He needed to be able to handle himself out there. I couldn't always be next to him to kill. We were going to have to split up sometimes.  
It wasn't easy to stumble upon guns anymore. It was easier to find ammo than guns, surprisingly enough.  
The time passed easily with no one coming around. There wasn't much to be worried for, but there wasn't any way to kill a horde if they found us.  
My alarm went off and I stood, my feet a little numb from sitting in one position for so long.  
"Hey, Jake," I shook him lightly. I tried to be a little nicer, but it was hard. I wasn't a nice person. I knew he needed someone more sensitive. You could tell in his eyes. I wouldn't be trying to do anything out of ordinary if I wasn't thinking of my family and how I'd want people to treat them. It kept coming back to me.  
He rolled over and opened his eyes slowly, groaning, "Is it time already?"  
I nodded, bringing his shoes over to him before getting two granola bars and some water.  
"It's smart to preserve your food. But I figured you needed to get used to that. Just don't waste the water. It's harder to find than food," I sat on the edge of the bed and handed him is food.  
He sat up and took it from me, biting into it quickly. I noticed he paced himself though, and actually did save a little more than half of it, "How will we know who's is who's?"  
I smiled a little, "Sarcastic? Maybe we'll get along a little better than I thought we would."  
He nodded, "You can't judge someone after one day."  
"Ah, but in this world you can't waste time getting to know people," I took a few sips of water and wrapped up the rest of my food in the wrapper, shoving it in my backpack, "We'll find a town hopefully today to go into to get you supplies. We need to find one that's not too crowded. You don't have a weapon to defend yourself with yet."  
He watched me as I went through everything in the truck to see if there was any supplies. It made me a little uncomfortable to say the least. I wasn't used to people watching me when I wasn't fighting or being greeted by strangers for the first time.  
"So," He started as he handed me the water bottle, "Who all are you trying to find?"  
"My little sister and mom mostly. Long time friend and his family too, but I'm more worried about my family. It's kinda mean. But I feel like you can't really have anyone more important than family in this world."  
I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye before standing and sitting in the front seat.  
"About ready?" I checked my watch before looking out to see the sun starting to rise.  
"Yup, I am when you are. Do you walk all day?"  
"Yeah. We'll check cars first, to see if we can find anything and avoid going into cities."  
We climbed out of the semi slowly. I searched around before signaling him to follow.  
The walk was quiet for a while. He offered to carry the backpack for a few times, but I said no. I didn't trust him enough for that yet.  
We checked a few cars but none seemed to hold anything valuable. I found a sniper in the back of a van with a few rounds, but nothing we could use for long. I let him have it though. I told him to only use it in an emergency. Especially since he didn't know how to shoot.  
"So, you haven't stayed with anyone since you've been traveling?" He was set on starting a conversation.  
"Nope. I do better by myself."  
"Then why are you letting me tag along?"  
I looked to him, taking in his facial features for the first time. He wasn't as pale as me, but he was close to it. He was taller too, probably eight or nine inches. His eyes were a chocolate brown, and his hair a deep brown, almost black looking. It fell around his ears and about two-thirds down his neck. It looked as if it stuck out any way it wanted to, but still made it cute looking. I've not seen many people who could pull off the messy hair look, especially with longer hair. He had some facial hair around his chin and I could almost call him Shaggy from Scooby Doo.  
I finally responded after a long moment, "You needed me."  
He laughed, shaking his head from side to side, "I needed to be rescued. I bet I could've survived out here alone."  
I snorted, "No. You were screaming, that's the first thing you could do wrong."  
"Okay fine. I woulda lasted a while though."  
"Jake, don't even start."  
"Can you teach me to do that?" He nodded the machete I was twirling around in my hand.  
I gave him a startled look, "Excuse me?"  
"I gotta learn something. It'd be cool to learn that," He gave me a grin.  
"Let's start with a gun. Work our way up to the more dangerous weapons. You're starting with an axe though if I can find one. Rather you use one of those than a machete."  
I took my time going past cities. I wanted to find the smallest one possible, I needed to be able to carry both our weight.  
"Can you promise me something?" He sounded more serious now. It was a major change in his mood.  
"Eh, sure?"  
"If I change, will you kill me?"  
I stopped in my track, looking at him extremely startled at the sudden question.  
"Excuse me?"  
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't wanna be one of them. If I get bit, or if I change, kill me. Do it a bit more gracefully than your machete though. A bullet to the head if you can. Or keep me long enough to get someplace you can shoot if you're not able to."  
I stood there a long moment, contemplating the idea. I understood why he was saying it. I never really thought about someone doing that with me because I was always alone. So I hadn't thought about doing that to him.  
"As long as you do it to me if I change," I held my hand out for him to shake. He nodded, taking my hand in his to settle the agreement.  
"Thanks."  
We walked in silence again, almost all day was spent that way. We stopped for breaks, spoke a little when it was needed, but other than that we were quiet.  
By the time the sun was starting to fall from the sky, we were looking for a place to stay.  
"I don't see how we'll get much luck here. Can't we just sleep in a tree or something?"  
I looked to him in disbelief, "Are you freaking serious? You think you can sit in a tree without rolling off all night?"  
He gave me an embarrassed look in return, "Oh, yah."  
"We'll find something. Just gotta keep looking," I was set on finding a higher thing to sit on than a van. I didn't like what we were finding though.  
"How 'bout you let me choose?"  
I put my hand to my forehead, "Sure. Might as well."  
I let him lead for the next while, watching his feet as I thought about our situation. If I was alone, it would be easier. I couldn't just ditch him now though. What have I gotten myself into?


	4. Chapter 4

It was beginning to get dark now, and I was starting to worry. I could see it in Jake's face too. We weren't in a good situation.  
As we went further down the road, something moved in the forest to our right. I pushed Jake to the side, standing in front of him with my machete ready.  
The leaves moved more, and there were multiple footsteps.  
"Get in the car," I whispered, taking my pack off and handing it to him.  
"Wha-"  
"Get in the car Jake," I pulled the gun out of my belt and handed it to him as well, opening the door to the car and pushing him in, "Stay in until it's safe. Got it?"  
"Will you be okay?"  
I turned to him for a second, a smirk growing on my face, "Do you even have to ask?"  
I pulled the mask to my mouth before shutting the door quietly, getting back in stance.  
"Who's out there?" I looked up, confused, "We heard whispers. Who is it? We're unarmed. Well, we have a shovel and a baseball bat, but we don't have any guns or anything of the sort."  
I stood up a bit straighter, but didn't move. The mask stayed on my face and I stayed ready to fight.  
They moved into view and I almost growled. There were five or six of them. The two with the weapons were male, bulky. This wasn't a good scenario for me. I didn't think I could take on all of them.  
"What the.. You a psycho chick?" The one with the baseball bat dropped his defensive stance and looked to me confused.  
"Lemme at her! I bet she's bitten," The one with the shovel walked forward, but the teenage girl with them stopped him.  
"No! She could be fine," She put her hand on his chest, "Seriously Mike, don't."  
My eyes narrowed as I began to talk, "Send one or two over to talk. No weapons though. I'll put mine down if they begin to walk here."  
My voice was only slightly muffled by the mask, but I still held it a little away from my face so it could be louder.  
They looked to each other and began to talk before the teenage girl and an older woman who looked like she could relate to the teenager began to walk over. I placed my machete on the roof of the car and gave Jake a quick glance, shaking my head a little. He looked worried. I wasn't going to let him out here. He was going to be a secret.  
"We're unarmed," The teenager said, walking over with her hands raised. The other girl wasn't as lenient to my commands as the teenager was, but she had her hands raised non-the-less.  
I nodded, but didn't pull my mask down. As they came closer, I stepped forward a little to try to take attention away from the car. My mind was on him more than anything. He was my responsibility now.  
"You can take the mask off," So the teenager was going to do the talking.  
I shook my head, "No bites? No scratches? No blood?"  
She nodded, "We've been clean. We put down or release the ones that get hurt. We do daily checks for bites and scratches. We're good."  
I took my mask off slowly and tried to not seem so tense.  
"I'm Hanna, and this is Finny," The teenager - Hanna - said with a small smile. She was maybe 15, 14 at the youngest.  
"I'm Tessa," I nodded in return, rubbing my brow, "Er, I didn't mean to scare anyone."  
"It's okay. It's bad times now. Always gotta be ready," Finny spoke now. She couldn't be too much older than me, she had to be a sister.  
"You were talking to someone else, right?" Hanna stepped a little closer, feeling it safer to come near me now.  
"No," I sighed, "It's habit to whisper things when I'm trying to think. Helps me out with traveling alone and such."  
Finny studied me carefully. She could read people, like me. I saw it in her eyes.  
She turned to whisper something in Hanna's ear before Hanna nodded.  
"So, Finny says she saw someone else."  
I looked to Finny then, locking eyes with her, "Probably was the walker I killed."  
"There's no blood on your weapon?" Finny didn't believe me.  
I smiled, "You think I always need a weapon? I look like a psycho, remember? We can do powerful things."  
Finny laughed, "You're able to do it. But then your mask would have more blood on it."  
Her eyes went to the car then, something catching her line of vision, "Oh, what do we have here?"  
She began to walk towards the door and my hand went to my mask, pulling it up and grabbing my machete with my free one. My body was blocking the space between her and the car.  
"Oh, I don't think you want to do that."  
The men started to come up then, ready to smack me with their weapons. I twirled my machete around a little bit before I heard a knocking on the window and the door opening slightly. I put my free hand to the opening and felt the cold metal touch my fingers.  
Idiot gave me the gun?  
I didn't know what to think then. But I did what he was insisting on me doing, I checked to see if it was loaded and aimed it at the head of one of the guys.  
"Wanna re-think your situation?"  
They stepped back then, suddenly alarmed that a gun was aimed at their face.  
"Okay, calm down," Hanna put her hand up to me and pushed Finny back, "No need for guns."  
"No one opens that car door, got it?"  
"We get it," Hanna nodded, but Finny shook her head.  
"No, we don't. We wanna know what's in the car."  
"No, you want to know what's in the car," I corrected her, "And you aren't opening it."  
I heard a knocking on the door again and turned to look through the window, my gun still aimed at the group of people. Jake was shaking his head, pulling on the handle to open it. I shook mine in return, he wasn't coming out.  
"Who's in there? Someone's that bit?" Finny growled, "We ain't letting a bitten person stay here. We need to put them down. Guys, back me up."  
"She's right," The man with the baseball bat said, his bat hanging in a loose grip on his side, "It's not even about us anymore. It's about morals."  
I snorted, "Morals?" I looked back to them, humor in my eyes, "No. There are no morals. Not in this world. Back off. No one's looking in the car. I'll put my weapons down if she stays away."  
The man with the shovel nodded then, putting his weapon down and pulling Finny back, much to her disagreement. The man with the baseball back stayed this time.  
"I'm Kyle," Nodded to me, "It'd be good if you'd put the gun down."  
I sighed, knocking on the window and handing the gun to Jake through the open space. Then, I put my machete back on the roof of the car and pulled my mask back down.  
"I'm Tessa. I didn't mean to startle anyone. It came to that."  
"Yah, there's times when you gotta do whatever you can to protect what's yours to protect. Can we know what's in the car though?"  
I looked to the window before rubbing my brow again. I was doing that a lot lately, "Someone. He's not bit, he's not harmed. He's just.. Innocent. He doesn't know how to survive in this."  
"Oh," Hanna seemed to understand my actions now, "I would've done the same for my little brother if he was here.."  
"He's not related to me, and he's only a year younger than me. But he's my responsibility."  
"Well, Tessa, where ya staying tonight?" Kyle looked to me, a small smile on his face. He was a lot more corporative than Finny.  
"Dunno yet. But we might wanna get going to find a place. So can we keep this conversation short?"  
"Why not stay with us?" Tessa seemed cheerful. She was going to get on my nerves.  
"I'm not really comfortable with that."  
I was pushed forward from Jake forcefully opening the door now. He was obviously tired of waiting.  
"We'd like to stay with you, yes."  
I looked to him in disbelief before smacking him in the arm, "You can't make that call."  
"You said I could," He retorted, rubbing his arm with his hand, "And we're saying with them. It's safer than staying out here."  
Hanna smiled, "Yay! Then, it's settled. C'mon, follow us."  
Jake took me by the arm and made me follow, handing me my machete with his other hand, "Please."  
I growled to him. I knew letting him tag along was a bad idea.  
We aimlessly followed them, Jake holding onto my arm to make sure I didn't run off. He was pretty strong for such a thin boy.  
"Dale," Hanna sang as she walked up to a large, barbwire fence, "Let us in! We have guests."  
Another door opened behind the fence that I didn't even notice before and then the door in the fence opened.  
"Hurry."  
We walked in, the man eyeing both Jake and I suspiciously as we followed behind them.  
"You know we gotta give them a look over too, right?"  
Kyle nodded, "Chill out old man, we know the rules."  
When I turned around to see where we entered, I noticed we were in a half built house, just the walls build high. The barbwire fence was stretched around the outside. It was like the outer shield. Then the door to the house was there.  
"Did you finish building most of this yourself?" I questioned to no one.  
"Yup," Kyle answered, "My brother Hank and I were contractors before the invasion. This was a house we were working on. It was supposed to be a lot better than this. Have rooms, floors, and a ceiling. But we fixed up what we could when we started hearing the rumors. Ain't no way we'd let ourselves get screwed."  
"How'd you get the vehicles in?" I noticed a few trucks, a van, and a camper were in the back of the area.  
"We put in a garage door, and there's a bigger door in the fence to pull apart so they could get 'em out if we needed them to."  
I nodded. This was a place I couldn't even think of seeing in this world. The rumors obviously weren't listened to by much. So since they took such time building this, in the woods, they must've had more help. I wasn't going to question though. It seemed like fencing for a prison, but it was enough to have for a few days.  
A few fires were spread out, there was a place you could call a kitchen, tents spread out, and blankets hung in certain areas. I figured they were designated restrooms. At least they were half decent.  
"So, we can find you guys a tent to crash in for a few nights if you'd like," Kyle began. I cut him off though.  
"Would it be okay if I slept on the camper?" I didn't mean to be so sudden, but it was a habit to sleep on a higher area, "He can sleep wherever, but I'd like to sleep on the camper. And hold my things there."  
"It's Dale's camper, it's his choice."  
I looked back to the older man, forgetting about Jake holding onto me until he let go so I could turn, "I wouldn't be in the way. I'd stick to one small area, you can still sit up there."  
Dale looked at me a moment, he must've been confused.  
"I'd like to be with her," Jake suddenly added. I looked to him, rather annoyed yet relieved at the same time. He was going to be closer to me. I could get him if something happened. I was determined to protect this boy until I could find someone who can. I didn't think these people were the people that could.  
"Sure, I don't see why not. Are you sure you'll be comfortable up there though? We can give you a few blankets and pillows, at least. Let us do that."  
I nodded, "Okay. Er, Thank you, I guess." I didn't usually thank many people, but I should at least thank these people. Resources were scarce now. It was a reach in the dark to do this.  
"We'd like to look through your things while we check you for bites. Kyle will be checking you, Jake, and I will be checking Tessa. Hank will be looking through your things."  
I looked to Hanna, who came out of nowhere, before responding, "Can you get another girl to check my bag? So they can be in the room with us? I'm a little over protective of my things."  
"That's okay, I am too," Kyle cut off Hanna, "I'll go find Luna."  
We were led over to one of the groups of blankets around the areas I figured were restrooms, and waited for Kyle and Luna to come back.  
"So, you really aren't gonna run off on me?" Jake looked to me, both surprised and worried, "And you'll really let me sleep up there with you?"  
I studied him for a moment before nodding, "Sure. You're my responsibility now. I gotta take care of you."  
I started messing with the hoop piercing in the middle of my bottom lip, thinking. Saying that made me feel a connection towards him. I wasn't going to randomly become his best friend or anything. But I felt like I was starting to get onto a common ground with him. I was mad at him for dragging us here, but he was trying to protect me too.  
"How do you keep those things in? Aren't they infected or something by now?"  
I laughed a little, "Nah. I keep them pretty clean. A few drops of water every other day to wash them. I don't dare take them out though. No way to re-pierce it if it closes."  
"And how did you stand getting the bar through the bridge of your nose?" He seemed truly curious about me. I couldn't contemplate how I felt about that just yet.  
"No. And before you say anything, the piercing in my eyebrow didn't hurt all that much either. I'm a big girl, I can handle a little pain," I gave him a smile. I was actually getting along with him.  
"Well, glad I know I'll have someone like that to keep me company and keep me safe then," He returned my smile before Kyle came back with Luna, and he headed off behind one of the blankets with the man as I head behind the other with the girls.  
"Please be careful with my things. Try to not get them dirty. And don't lose the smaller items. Some of those things are really valuable to me," I began to lecture Luna about the things in my bag before she laughed at me.  
"I know, sweetheart. I'll keep everything organized. And I won't be taking anything. What's yours is yours," Luna's voice was reassuring.  
I was stripped down to my undergarments and examined from head to toe. They checked everywhere, even parted my hair continuously to make sure nothing was there.  
"So, is that boy your boyfriend?" Luna asked with a small smirk before Hanna shook her head.  
"No, apparently they'd just met," Hanna corrected her.  
"Well, you two stand pretty protectively next to each other."  
The two girls giggled and I tried my hardest to not act like a jerk to them, "We've made a deal to watch each other's back. In a time like this, traveling with a stranger, you need to know there's some form of connection between each other. We need to trust each other and be protective over each other to make sure we survive."  
They stayed quiet then. It took a good half an hour before I was freed, and stepped out in a grey off the shoulder tee-shirt with the words 'Pretty Little Liar' printed on it in black. I still wore my jean shorts though, and my converse stayed on my feet.  
Jake came out a few minutes later as I put my mask back around my neck.  
"Do you really have to wear that thing in here?" He seemed like he was laughing at me, but trying to hide it.  
"I always wear it. Just in case," I was looking down at it thankful I'd cleaned off the blood. It was beginning to annoy me.  
"Not tonight," He walked up to me and pushed my hands away, grabbing the mask with one hand and the string around my neck with the other, lifting it off my head, "Tonight, you relax. You need to relax so you can be alert without all the tension when we leave."  
He put the mask in my hand and fixed my short-ish black hair before giving me a grin. I just looked at him, not knowing what to do or say. It was sudden, and impulsive. At least that's what I classified it as.  
None the less, I put the mask in my backpack and followed him.  
"I'll go put your stuff on the camper, and get the pillows and blanket," He took the bag from me before sighing, noticing the gun around my waist, "Give me the gun too Tessa."  
"There's no way you're taking this gun from me," That was where I started to disagree.  
"Why? You don't need it in here. And you'll still have your machete. You're probably more dangerous with that than a gun."  
I shook my head, "No. Besides, when it comes down to it you'd need to have me to kill things at a distance if we're separated in here and something happens."  
"You need to stop thinking of me as someone so helpless," His voice was low as put the bag down and pinned me to the side of the camper, one of his hands holding mine above my head while the other unhooked the case from my belt. After he put it on his belt, he let me go.  
"Don't start crossing lines, Jake," I threatened, but he had just utterly amazed me. He didn't seem like one to do that. I apparently had been underestimating him. Who was Jake?


	5. Chapter 5

**I apologize for this story being a bit of a bust. Life is piling a lot on my plate right now and I'm trying to focus more on my other story because has two complete stories following it. I hope this is okay for the people that stumble upon this story though, and don't give up on it. I'm finding time to write again and once I get organized and settled I can update more frequently. With me, if you've read my other stories, you know to be patient, because I do finish them.3  
****Thank you whoever's still reading these. Enjoy.**

I sat at a fire playing with the grass around my feet. I'd already scanned the camp for my mother and sister but they weren't here. I couldn't get the event that just happened out of my mind. I wanted to be angry with him but couldn't. I would've done the same, after all. I would've been more cruel. He made sure not to injure me in any way. My movement is what caused the slight bruises to appear on my collarbone. He was gentle.  
My eyes closed and I took in the heat from the fire. It comforted me, relaxed me. I hadn't felt this type of warmth in a while. There was such happiness in this camp. They were laughing, playing with the fire. Part of me felt like this was a stupid idea to stay here, but another made me think I could use this. The people giving off the happy mood. The atmosphere was one this world needed.  
I was startled by the sudden weight on the other side of the log. I looked to the person's feet through my hair and saw Jake's boots, his hands brushing his knees.  
"What do you want?" I asked quietly as I looked into the flames again.  
"You're mad at me for trying to show you I'm not as pathetic as I apparently seem? It's what you would do too, isn't it Tessa?" I heard the humor in his voice. The grin on his face as he mocked me.  
"I'm mad at you for trying to put me beneath you. I'm the one that makes the rules. Not you," I looked to face him now, my voice stern. I wasn't angry. I didn't get angry that easily. This was a time I wished to.  
"You weren't beneath me. Well, I guess you were," He smirked and threw something into the fire, "I wasn't making myself seem superior. I was making a point."  
I couldn't disagree with him. His joke made me crack a bit of a smile. His point was made and it was valid. Why must he be smart?  
"Perverted jokes are a great way to brighten the mood, Jake," I let out a laugh and shook my head, "Just don't do that again."  
I punched his arm a little and laughed again, this time he joined me.  
"You're strong for someone without muscle," He threw more paper into the fire. So that's what it was.  
"I have muscle. Just don't look like it," I grinned, "Don't underestimate me either, Jake. I've got surprises just like you."  
"Like that smile of your's? It's got sincere happiness behind it. It's no smirk. It looks good on you."  
I blinked and shook my head, my eyes going back to the fire, "Why are you suddenly being so sweet to me Jake? It's not something I go for. It's definitely not something I'd think of when I live in this world. There's no point. No pure happiness can come of it now."  
"You don't like emotions, do you?" He was quiet now. His voice was gone of all emotions.  
"Not really no. I don't understand the pleasure it gives to be hurt from such things as love."  
He looked to me, brushing hair behind my ear, "Because of the love you feel before the pain. The happiness is worth the pain and the memories. You learn so much from it."  
I froze from his touch. I didn't know any responses for that. Part of it gave me a feeling in my stomach. But I wasn't anything but curious about the boy.  
"It breaks a person. I've seen it happen.."  
I thought of my mom, my father leaving her. I remembered how broken she was. How broken my little sister was. He took me with him when they divorced. I hadn't gotten to know my family until he died. And by then the bonds that could be made between my mother and I were fragile. That's why I was so keen to finding her. It was a bond I loved. One I couldn't live without.  
"But they're still here, and they've still smiled. Things that are broken get fixed Tessa. You should try it sometime. It'd make you spiritually stronger. Something I'm sure you'd love to be," He stood and stretched. I watched him as he went to sit at another fire and talk to others. All I could do is walk away.  
I climbed up onto the camper and huffed, crossing my legs as I sat on the edge. My eyes scanned the forest for many hours until Jake came to lay down.  
"You need to get to sleep Tessa," He mumbled as he climbed behind me to lay down in our mess of pillows and blankets.  
"Uh huh," I half replied, my gaze staying at the forest.  
"The boy's right," Dale said from our right, "Get some sleep. I'll leave you guys alone for tonight. Sleep well."  
I watched the old man climb down and looked back to Jake who was spreading out the blankets to create a bigger bed for us.  
"Sorry to say we have to share one bed. We'd be too curled up if we laid the other way."  
My eyelids started to fall and I found I was too tired to care. I laid next to him, pulling the covers up to my shoulders, and rolled on my side to face Jake.  
"I've been told I can kick in my sleep," I mumbled, suddenly sleepy.  
"Ah, it's okay. I can take a little pain. I have a feeling I should get used to it anyways," He was laying on his back with his hands behind his head, a light smile on his face. I wanted to reply but sleep took me before I had the chance to comment.

.

When Jake awoke, the settlement was already buzzing. I hadn't moved from my spot at the edge of the camper since I woke up at 5 - the same time I always got up. When he leaned up and shook me I jumped, startled by the sudden touch.  
"What the hell are you doing?" He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and stretched.  
"I asked her that too, but she never replied," The old man - Dale - to my right spoke up.  
"I'm guarding," Was the only answer I gave as I swung my feet. I was watching the woods, my feet hanging over the edge and my pistol in my hand. I didn't trust anyone here. I had to see for myself that it was safe.  
"You don't need to Tessa, everyone else is guarding," Jake tried to pull me up but I elbowed him in the knee, causing him to stumble.  
"God, you don't have to be so rude," He laughed as he shook his head. Then he turned to leave, climbing down the ladder and walking away.  
A sigh escaped my lips as I went through my bag then. I wanted to clean my gun off.  
Eventually Jake came back up and sat next to me, placing a plate of food in my lap.  
"It's just some squirrel, but it's better than what we had," He shrugged as he began to eat. I cringed.  
"No thanks," I put the plate down and began to eat my granola bar.  
"Why not? It's pretty good," His mouth was full of food when he responded, his brow creasing as he stared at me in disbelief.  
"I'm a vegetarian. And even if I wasn't, that looks so gross."  
"You, of all people?" He seemed really surprised.  
"Why?" I looked to him with confusion before standing, stretching my legs.  
"Because you're all, mean and evil and psychotic and stuff. You kill for a living. I figured you'd kill animals too."  
"Nope. I kill zombies. They're fun to kill," A smirk grew on my face as I began to get down off the camper.  
"Yep, those walkers are pretty fun to kill. Sniping them can be entertaining sometimes," Dale added his two cents. He seemed to be someone to do that a lot.  
I walked around the camp trying to find something to do for a while before giving up. It was hopeless. And to make it worse they wouldn't let me walk around and guard. I felt useless here.  
The next few days went on like that. I just sat on the camper and didn't do much as Jake tried to force me to eat. Eventually I ate some food, but nothing meat related. He still couldn't believe it.

.

We spent a week in a half in the camp until everything went crazy. It started at a guy coming back wounded, saying he wasn't bit. We sent him away and kept him outside the gate but he'd already caused a problem, he coughed on someone. So we exiled them too. But they were noisy and no one was good enough to put them down. No one thought I was good enough to do it either. Said a child shouldn't be doing such things.  
I kept Jake close to me and my backpack on me at all times. I didn't want to be caught off guard.  
But, as my luck seems to be horrible, I was. We had gotten up not to long ago. Jake had gone to get food and I was packing up when the kid didn't wake up. I didn't think much of it at first. I figured the kid had just passed out and everyone was overreacting. No one here was a doctor so no one could diagnose anyone right.  
Then, the kid woke up and everyone seemed fine, until she bit another girl. I knew then that this wasn't good. People began to panic and throw them out the gate but the other people who were zombies - or still just changing - were waiting close by. We didn't have enough people to keep them out since everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Jake was on the other side of the camp when it all went to hell. I had everything packed and was running out the back when I heard him yell. He didn't have a weapon. He didn't have a chance. It would be easy for me to leave him.  
I was at the top of the chain fence when it got to me. He was trying to come over to me. This was my fault that he walked into it. I couldn't leave him here. I could just let him go once I got him to safety.  
Dale had already gone with his camper with some other people, but was smart enough to close the gate to keep them in.  
I jumped down and pulled my mask up, twirling my machete.  
"Jake!" I yelled, "Try to head over here. I'll cover you!"  
I watched him. There was panic in his eyes as we ran to each other. It made me think of how I first was when I ran into zombies in groups this big. But I'd learned to keep cool.  
I decided it wouldn't matter to shoot my pistol and killed the ones too close to him as I killed the ones in my way. He reached me fast with my cover before we took off.  
"Can you climb a fence?"  
He nodded and began to climb. I came after him after killing a few others coming close.  
"They don't seem to be in the woods, they're just coming after everyone in the front. Don't listen to the screams Jake, block them out. You can block them out."  
I knew he was softer than me. Yes, it hurt me greatly to see the men, woman, and children die. It hurt me to know that those people were dying helplessly. But I couldn't kill this many off. I could take a lot but not this many with this many civilians.  
"Okay. Okay," He kept breathing as we made it over the fence. We climbed back down and took off.  
"Can you climb trees?" I asked as I surveyed the woods. Some of these had pretty thick branches high up.  
"Yah," He mumbled. I nodded and found a tree for us to hide in for a while. We climbed up it and sat on different sides, getting comfortable.  
"I'm sorry," I spoke after a long moment. I had wiped my machete off and reloaded my pistol.  
"All of those people died."  
"Most of them probably did, yes. But some got away. Dale's got a good shot too. He protected as many as he could in his camper. And other cars had disappeared when I checked."  
"But those kids. The children screaming."  
"It haunts you for a long while, yes. It can stick with you for maybe forever. But you're not alone. Not right now. Okay? You'll be okay."  
I reached over for his hand and he took it. He was surprised, obviously. But this was something I've dealt with since the beginning. This was something even I was soft on.  
"Thanks, Tessa," He spoke when it'd gotten dark.  
"You're welcome, Jake. Let's go find a place to sleep now, okay?"  
I couldn't help but treat him like a child now. You could see what it did to him. Between being so close to dying, hearing the screams, and watching all of that he was going numb. I hated being nice to someone. It was natural for me to just be mean. But dying was something that got to me differently. With my dad… it was one of the only soft spots I had.  
Once we'd found a truck - 4x4 - to sleep in, he sighed. We were both sitting in the floor of the back seat, our heads resting on the seat next to us.  
"You aren't going to leave me, are you?" His voice was quiet. I sighed.  
"No, Jake, I'm not gonna leave you," I patted his knee and gave him a soft smile, "If I left you, you'd get yourself killed. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."  
"Why are you being so nice?"  
"Because I heard my father scream when he died. I watched him burn to death in a house fire. He was trapped. Made sure my little sister and my dog were out and couldn't go on. The only thing I could remember of the day was his screaming…"  
I felt like crying. I wasn't going to, but it hurt to remember that.  
"I didn't mean to cause you to get upset."  
"It's fine. I've gotten over it. Enough to be able to sit here and stay up all night to make sure you don't die on me."  
"Why's it matter so much?" He looked up to me, his eyes red and puffy from crying on our walk here.  
"Because I just risked my ass to get you here," I grinned and watched as he cracked a bit of a smile.  
Good. He was getting better enough to find me stupidly funny.


	6. Chapter 6

**Holy crap man, this isn't getting nearly as many views as I'd hoped. But then again the actual characters in this won't be involved until later so I guess most people wouldn't wanna read. Still though, I'm kinda upset. Guess I'll finish it though. I just might make this a shortish story. **

There's only so much one can do until they ask why they were the exception to this life. Jake had finally hit this moment and I've never seen someone change so fast. He was colder and a lot more quiet. I saw him carelessly kill zombies when he could and he was getting a lot better at it. It was beginning to worry me. I didn't want to wake up to see him dead or gone after growing on the idea of having company when I wake. I'd never admit that to him though.  
We were walking around a part of the highway after we heard a large group of people coming our way. Jake was a little hard to convince at first but he eventually followed me.  
"I know you want to kill them, but they might have women and children. They're just looking out for each other. Just like you and I are. We can't kill everyone we meet, Jake."  
"You're going around them because you worry that they'll try to loot us though. So I'd have a reason to kill them."  
I put my hand on his chest to stop him and gave him a concerned look, "We aren't going to split up families because we question humanity. We didn't before this virus hit and we won't now. Losing whatever we have left of our old lives would be just as bad as becoming one of the walkers."  
He gave me a stare that he's been giving me a lot lately before pushing past me and continuing on. I couldn't really say anything else. At least he was listening to me.  
By nightfall we had found a semi truck to sleep in. It was rather comfy though it's bed wasn't as great as the one in the semi we were in when we first met.  
"I'll take first watch," Jake spoke quietly as he sat in the front seat messing with his newfound toy - a decent sword that we found on our trip into a town a while ago. He was treasuring it like how I treasured my machete. But he was better with a gun or a baseball bat.  
"Are you sure? I'm not tired. I can do it," I sat in the passenger seat and began to clean my weapon.  
"Nah, I'm fine. You need more beauty sleep than I do or you'll be unbearably cranky."  
I could've sworn I saw a hint of a smile on his face but I thought nothing of it. He wasn't smiling as much anymore.  
I shrugged and went to lay down, curling up in a ball in the blankets. I made a mental note to take the sheets for later use.

.

I woke up earlier than I should to hear the faint sounds of crying. I tried not too move too much as I looked over and peeked at Jake. He was curled up, whimpering, trying to muffle his sounds as best as he could with his shirt. This was the side I hadn't seen in him in a while. The side that I thought had left. But he was just hiding it. I didn't really understand why though. I knew how bad that night was, I knew the effect it had on him and how torn up he was, so why was he trying to show that he wasn't hurting anymore?  
I turned back over and groaned, acting like I just woke up.  
"Hey Jake, is it my turn yet?" I mumbled. It wasn't too hard to sound tired. I was still extremely sleepy.  
"No, not yet," He replied, his voice barely shaking. I pretended that I didn't notice it and rolled back over, "Okay. Wake me up when it is. I don't wanna oversleep again because you think you can run on no sleep.."  
My voice got quieter as I finished my sentence and slipped back to sleep. The sounds of his whimpering didn't fade though.

.

Eventually morning came around and my shift was up. I was getting ready for the day and pulling out our food and water when he finally woke. His eyes weren't red anymore as they were last night when we switched shifts. I didn't ask though. If he wanted to stay quiet I didn't really have any control over that.  
"Mornin' sleepy," I spoke with a mouthful of food, "That bed's more comfy than being curled up in the floor of trucks ain't it? My back was so thankful."  
He nodded and took his food, eating it in quiet.  
"Hey, we should test out your skills with that sword today. Wanna stop wandering around for a while and spar? It'd be a good release."  
He looked to me, his face showing his surprise easily, and stopped eating. He didn't speak for about a minute, "Uh, sure. Why are you offering to spar with me?"  
"Because you need the training. You handle your blade well but I still feel like you couldn't hold your own ground in a match with more than one walker. We've gotta toughen you up. Unless you like the idea of a girl always coming to your rescue."  
I grinned and laughed, genuinely amused because that's what I've been doing for him since we met. He still seemed to want me by his side when he fought. I didn't mind it though. I was becoming protective over him.  
He seemed to have a tint of pink on his cheeks when he responded, "Uh, okay then."  
He wasn't acting like the cold person he had been for a while. Maybe that breakdown last night had helped him become a little more like himself.  
We set out not to long after and tried to decide on a place to stop at. We bickered, a lot. He wouldn't agree with any place I chose and I wouldn't agree to any place he chose. This was going to be a long day.  
Eventually we found a van that we decided we could sleep in for the night and walked off into a more open nature filled area close by. After our packs were placed under a tree and my mask taken off I began to show him how to hold his sword better. We spent all day talking and fighting. He caught on extremely well and was already moving almost perfectly with his sword when we took a dinner break.  
"You're a pretty good teacher."  
"Thanks. I learned from the best."  
I couldn't eat. I was looking at my food trying to talk myself into it but I just couldn't find it in me. This was making me think of my dad. And I was wanting to kill zombies right now instead of spar with someone I barely knew.  
Eventually we headed back to the van we picked and got settled in. I couldn't sleep though so I decided to take first shift. When some unwanted guests arrived late at night I got my gear and went out to fight. I took my time killing them. Each move as fast and precise as the last. The anger left me as the final one dropped, blood oozing from the hole where his ear once was. I was getting better at finding more creative ways to put my machete through their skulls.  
When I turned and took a deep breath, I saw Jake standing there staring at me. There were a few tears sliding down my cheeks I hadn't noticed and blood covering my mask and most of my chest. I flung my machete to get some of the blood off before walking past him and leaning into the van to get my pack. I cleaned my machete in silence as he watched me. I got to cleaning my mask off and then my skin. When he didn't get the hint about me changing my shirt I turned around and pulled it off over my head and put my other one on. There. Now I was clean again.  
He bagged my other shirt for me and put it back and hung my towel up to dry. Then he went back to looking at me.  
"What?" I finally asked, clearly annoyed.  
"The way you move.. I've never seen you really fight before."  
My confused look must've been obvious because he went into the van, sitting down beside me. I pulled the door shut while I waited for him to continue. After a long moment, he did.  
"It's like you're dancing or something. Like it's a natural ability. You looked like you were born to do something like that."  
I laughed, "Yah, I wish. It was luck that this happened. I was never really good for anything before now."  
He was about to respond when I cut him off, "Well, g'night Jake. I'd like to get some sleep now."


	7. Chapter 7

We decided to walk again the next day. And a few days after that. It'd been about two weeks before we ran into any trouble. Which was good. But the mess we got in was bad.  
"Where the hell is the exit?" I screamed running through another hallway. Jake was right behind me. We were both covered in blood and out of breath but we had to keep going.  
"I think it's down here!" He took my hand and pulled me into another hallway before I could blink. Once we found the stairs we went down and turned another corner.  
We moved as one now. We were a pretty unstoppable team with our blades. Once we went through the seven zombies in our way we kept going, more of them behind us. Going into this town was a bad idea. But we had to. We had no food.  
"There!" Jake yelled shoving me in the direction of the light. I stumbled forward, running before I noticed Jake wasn't behind me.  
"Jake, c'mon!"  
"No, you go. I'll hold them off."  
I shook my head and ran back, taking his hand this time and pulling him with me.  
"We go together."  
And together we went. Out of the store and into the back alley way. It was cleared already. All of the zombies had cleared to go to the front door to get their dinner - us.  
"We don't have time to rest. We need to keep moving."  
Jake pulled me onward but I was getting tired way too fast. But once Jake was determined there was no telling him otherwise. And he led us out of the city and pretty far away from it before I finally broke.  
"I'll find a place up ahead. Just hide here until then. Okay?"  
I nodded and leaned back into the seat of the car. We refused to sleep in cars but they were good hiding places when we really needed them.  
It felt like ages before Jake got back. I was fading into sleep when he came. His voice was distant but it sounded worried. I couldn't get up. It hurt to move.  
"Tess, you gotta work with me here. I can't see the wound if you stay turned over like this."  
Wound? That's right, I was wounded. I hadn't told him though. I thought nothing of it when it happened. I figured it would have scabbed over by now.  
I did as told and he pushed my Capri's up above my knee to see the gash on the side of it. I had fallen and the glass cut through my jeans, digging itself downward a little before I was able to get up and continue.  
"This is serious. Why didn't you tell me? We need to get you to the semi. C'mon Tess, get up."  
I watched his shadow put my pack on his back and my machete in it's case. Then I felt myself dragged out of the car and into his arms. It again felt like ages before I was laying in the bed of the semi he had found.  
"You need to wake up. I don't know how much blood you've lost and I'm afraid of what might happen if you pass out."  
I rolled over a little and looked at him. There was worry on his face. Sweat. Dried blood covering it almost every where but where he had his mask on. I felt him take mine off and wash the blood from my face. I was helpless. My body was too tired and too in shock to move. I'd never faced so many before at once. I'd never been in a mess that bad.  
He brushed the hair from my face and washed my neck before rinsing the rag and moving to clean my leg again. Then he took the bandages we had found a while ago and wrapped them around a towel he had covered the wound with.  
"I don't really know what else to do. But I don't want just the wrap to be against that. The towel should help soak up some blood and not make it too uncomfortable until we figure something out."  
I nodded, "Thank you."  
The shock on his face was amusing but I didn't have the strength to laugh.  
"I didn't think I'd ever hear you say that."  
I smiled a little and pushed myself up.  
"Tess I don't think-"  
"You need to wash up too."  
"What?"  
I took the rag and dumped some water on it before taking his face in my hands.  
"Let me help you too. You did more work than me. And carried me. Your body must be," I took a deep breath. I was talking slowly and I was slurring my words a little, "Your body must be screaming at you right now."  
He didn't reply. He just watched me like he did sometimes as I held his face in place, rubbing the blood from his face, his neck and his shoulders. Then I rubbed his hands clean. That was my blood on them.  
"You need sleep too."  
"No. Once you get a little better you should sleep first."  
"Jake. Lock the doors, put our stuff back here with us, and close the curtain so no one can see we're here. Then lay down and sleep."  
He was hesitant but did as told. Not too long later he was laying next to me, breathing deeply as he finally let himself take in what happened.  
"My stupidity of wanting to be the hero almost got us killed."  
I looked to him. He was sad. That was the closest word to describe his expression.  
"No. Your stupidity of thinking you could handle all those by yourself almost got you killed. When we're together we survive. Don't forget that."  
He turned to face me. His eyes looked right into mine, "I would have never guessed when this all started that I'd be laying here with a girl as pretty as you after going on a killing spree. I figured I would be dead by now."  
"Well, I won't let you die. Not now. Not after I've started to get comfortable with you."  
I was half asleep when I said those words. I meant them, but I didn't really mean to tell him that.  
The last thing I heard before I passed out was his voice.  
"You can't die either. Not after I've gotten so used to you being here when I wake."

.

I woke with a start. My breathing was rapid and I was tangled up in the covers.  
"God, calm down. Go back to sleep. I've told you already, you're safe."  
The voice was right next to me. I looked over to see a half asleep Jake. By the way he seemed it wasn't the first time I woke like this. But I was still tired. So I laid back down and curled up in the covers, suddenly sleepy again.  
"Was all of that real?" I whispered.  
"Mhm."  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yes, I'm fine."  
I was quiet before rolling over to face him, balling my hands into fists around the comforter and pulling it closer to me, "You saved me yesterday. You know that, right?"  
He opened his eyes. They bore right into mine.  
"No. You saved me."  
I shook my head, "Jake. I would've passed out right after we got out of the building if it wasn't for you. You pulled me and made my adrenaline keep pumping. You kept the pain away and my body responsive. You saved me."  
His eyes questioned me for him. I didn't respond though. I just closed my eyes again and curled up to him a little.  
"Don't even think anything of this. You're warm. I'm freezing. That's all."  
He chuckled, "I'm sure it is Tessa. Don't worry. I know you're not like that."  
I wanted to ask what he meant but all I did was mumble a 'what'.  
"I know you wouldn't like anyone. Especially someone like me."  
Then, I went back to sleep.  
It was midday when we finally got up. We decided to just stay there for a while until our bodies recovered. I couldn't really walk anyways. So we decided this was going to be our hide out for a couple of days. We hoped it'd take no longer than a week for me to recover enough to travel. It hurt to bend my knee at all right now and I wouldn't last long. My body was still reacting from the loss of blood.  
"I was going to change your pants but decided against it. I knew you'd kill me when you woke up if I did."  
I was still in bed, sprawled out and hiding from the light.  
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to. I should be wearing my shorts. But I can't do it by myself. I can't stand."  
His stare was amusing to say the least.  
"I am not helping you change."  
"You're the one that brought it up."  
"Yes. To tell you I wouldn't."  
"But you were suggesting it."  
"Was not."  
"Don't lie to me Jake. You wanted to."  
I laughed and flinched from it. He was over to me in a second to make sure I hadn't opened my wound.  
"You can't do any major movements. You need to stay still for a while."  
"I want to laugh. I like making fun of you. Don't tell me I can't do something. It's more my chest than my leg anyways."  
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, sitting on the edge of the bed.  
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."  
"I'm going to worry about you. You're all I have."  
We were quiet then. How was I supposed to respond to that?  
"Look, I know I'm not your favorite person Tess. But there's nothing left for me in this world. My family.. My friends.. They're all gone. No one was here to protect me. Or help me. Or get me to be happy like you can. And I know that you have your friends and family. You aren't alone. You have other people. But I want you to have me too. I want to be like one of them. I want to know you.  
"But, even if I can't, I owe you. For all you've done for me. I need to protect you like you protect me. I want to do something. Be something. I don't have a purpose in this world. Not like you do."  
He wouldn't look at me. I tried to find words but couldn't. No one had told me that. It was just obvious with Tyler and my family. They were mine and I was their's and that was that. But he actually told me he wanted me to be here. It was touching. It wasn't what I was used to. I didn't deal with this. My friends knew not to bring this type of stuff up with me.  
A sigh escaped his lips while I pondered, "I'll be up front. Just call for me if you need me."  
He went to get up but I grabbed his hand. When he looked back to me I pulled him down.  
I had hoped he would understand that I didn't do good with words. My way of showing him that he was a part of my life wouldn't involve words.  
He looked at me for a moment while I tried to figure out what to do. To show him. But there wasn't much I could do. So I sat up a little, put his arm under my neck and laid my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. When I curled up to him more he relaxed and put his arm around me. I smiled then. He understood.


End file.
